A Blessed Veteran's Day tro all those who have served and are serving


Thank you all for your sacrifice

 

Heavenly Father, today we lift all of our veterans before you. Our grateful nation honors them today, though we need to honor them every day. Without their willingness to serve our country, it is almost certain we would be stripped of the incredible freedoms You have made possible.
Dear God, please bless these veterans. Show them the path to find jobs when they return from serving our country. Guide them to counselors who walk in Your light, that they may have the ears to listen, the words to both advise and comfort, and the wisdom to know how to help them. Bless their families, too, as they suffer while our veterans are away. Allow their love and commitment to the family unit remain strong so distance and the horrors of war cannot break the bond the family shares.
Heavenly Father, we ask that You, the Ultimate Physician, guide the hands and hearts of all medical professionals who treat our wounded warriors. May their minds know the latest treatments, may their hands work with precision, and may their hearts always display Your compassion.
And finally, Dear Lord, please allow our veterans to feel our immense gratitude.
We ask all of this in Your name.
AMEN

 

Wow, FP. A very moving prayer.

Alicia

 

FP,
Can't imagine a post that could top that one on this Veterans Day
Nicely done my friend !

 

Happy? That's not a word that I think is appropriate at all, that just equates it to Xmas, the New Year and birthdays etc.

I think the following more aptly represents to-days feelings.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Major John McCrae, May 1915

First World War Poems - In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

The story of the poppy.

 

It is good to imagine a "Happy" veterans day when they all come home, and war is no more. Thank you for those who have served their country and their families for giving up their loved one for the time they served. We all are blessed by veterans...and their families.

 

I did not in any way mean to imply that Veterans Day should be a happy occasion. I have nothing but the utmost respect for our soldiers past and present, and if I offened any of them I am truly sorry , that was not my intention.

My sole purpose for this thread was to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU...


If I could change the tittle I would, but I can't and have no problem with a moderator correcting my error

Believe me I have seen firsthand the sacrifices these people make on a daily basis and I can not express the gratitude I feel to them all. This should not and can not be taken for granted.

 

No worries Rick. We know you did not do this with any disrespect. I'll be happy to chage it for you.

 

As a veteran and a retiree, I thank you all for honoring the veterans. It was my privilege and honor to serve the greatest country in the world, the United States of America.

 

Rick, thanks you for your thoughts on this Veterans Day. No apologies are necessary. Its the thought that counts.
US51559096 (1965-1967)

 

It brought such a sense of HONOR to have heard the MARINES at the tomb of the unknowns were on post all during hurricane sandy's wrath. Such an OUTSTANDING example of the committment to duty, so aptly displayed, daily they post without regard to external influences! When I enlisted at 17 years old during the Viet-Nam war in 1972 it was while many in the services were at each others throats with 'We do this better' or 'our branch does that better'... Back then I wondered why we all couldn't just "get along" (imagin a cog on a flywheel thinking it was better than the rest of the cogs on the wheel, sure wouldn't run as a gear very well with all that imbalance, would it?), since we all were doing what we could to protect and project out way of life into the world body. Only lately does the services embrace the inter-service intergration that force multiplies protections to and for our nations citizens today. Anyway, I digress (again, seems that happens a lot lately). Every member of every armed forces in this great nation, along with the spouses, children, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, friends, neighbors, and any other patriot who has been impacted by the sacrifice of so many for the good of all, I and all my brothers-in-arms salute the fallen, and those who carry the scars for a lifetime. Thank you, my brothers and sisters, it was an HONOR to serve alongside you! The true HERO's are immortalized in the many national cemetaries, and wherever they are interned or rest, for they gave the ultimate sacrifice. I SALUTE YOU ALL!

 

I put in my four years. I fought no enemy of my nation. I saw no enemy. It did however, teach me to use weapons and kill. I now defend me and mine, with that knowledge. gary

 

You tell that old medicvac pilot thanks for his service.....and the rest of you out there as well....

 

Dam it my father was in WWII and fought like hell to save England and Europe. He also liberated concentration camps and saw the horrors of war. He LOVED it when someone said "Happy Veteran’s Day" and thanked him for his service! Many times on Veteran's Day he had tears in his eyes BECAUSE people CARED to thank him and told him to enjoy the day because it belonged to him! I must have insulted many vets at school when I did Veteran’s Day Program because we all said "Happy Veteran's Day"!
For your information Rick has sons who have served their country proudly. So Rick tell your sons “Thank you and have a Happy Veteran’s Day”! I have meet many vets who are very happy to have served their country. There is no insult wishing any service person a HAPPY day on Veteran’s Day or better yet any day of the year! And no I'm not politically correct person!
FP your prayer was beautiful!

 

Happy Veterans Day seems fine to me, I don't understand why it wouldn't be, There are quite a few Veterans in my family and some active duty and we all say Happy Veteran's Day to each other.

 

A heart felt thank you is what is most appropriate. We must remember those that fought and especially those that were killed or maimed, their relatives and friends are not happy, we must remember their grief and not tell them to be happy, because they cannot be. That was my point.

 

My point is - Why can't they be happy? Their situation may not be the best, or desirable but they can surely be happy.

 

180, I read your moving poem " In Flander's Fields", and something didn't ring quite true.
I had learned that poem in grade school as "In Flander's fields, the poppies grow" - not "blow"

so I did some research :
Here is an image of the original handwritten document :



To me, that reads "grow", not "blow"

 

This is true, somewhere, for some reason it was changed, artistic license I suppose. Blow is used to describe the fluttering in the wind and someone or some people thought that sounded better.

The author died of pneumonia in 1918 before the war ended.

 

Surprised those 'same people' haven't painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa ....